Crusaders of the Stars
by Drgonstar
Summary: Follow the adventures of four possibly more  young heroes as they explore the stars!  Takes place 10 years after Star Wars: The Old Republic
1. Chapter 1

Crusaders of the Stars

Tython, a lush and peaceful planet full of rolling hills, wide prairies, and large mountains it was all breath taking to Finn, a young Miraluka Jedi, who was now flying into Tython on a shuttle. Finn was told that he would be training on this planet from now on, under the care of the Jedi Master Odar. When the shuttle landed Finn stepped out, little did he know that these were the last moments of peace he'd enjoy while on this planet. Not two steps after he got off of the shuttle, a man in Jedi robes was waiting for him.

"Ah, you must be the Padawan assigned to Master Odar," The man said.

"Yes, can you take me to him," Finn asked.

The man nodded before a small beeping was heard coming from his pocket. The man took out a round holocommunicator, he pressed a button on it and the image of a young Jedi appeared. It looked like it was in shock.

"Master, something is attacking the Gnarls! Send any help you can! People are dying down here! Please! I don't know how much longer we can last," The image screeched in panic.

"I'll send everyone I can Padawan, remain calm," The man said and hung up, "Unfortunately, we're a little short-handed. Most of our Jedi are off fighting the Empire, I need you to get a ride down to the Gnarls and help out anyone you can."

"I will do my best to help those in need," Finn said with a bow.

"Good, you should be able to catch a ride at the taxi pad on the other end of this overlook," The man said.

"Then I shall be off," Finn said, trying to mask his fear. He made his way to taxi pad and hitched a ride to what looked like an open plain with a few trees and one coursing river. He also saw various things that looked like various humanoid races, only they were entirely pitch-black. No eyes, no mouth, just like some kind of shadow. Finn gulped and landed at a small platform a little ways from the meadow. There he was approached by two Jedi.

"You must be the Padawan Mendis was talking about," The first Jedi said.

"We have two favors to ask of you," The second one said.

Finn nodded, "What do you need?"

"You see a group of Padawans just came back from the Gnarls looking pale with black eyes. We fear they have unknowingly become corrupted by dark side magic," The first Jedi said.

"Where do I come in," Finn asked.

"There is a flower that grows in the Gnarls that washes away corruption, I need you to get that flower and bring here. I fear that we will lose them within the hour," The first Jedi continued.

"The group of Padawans also mentioned a few that had gotten separated from them, take this signaling device and when you find them, use it to call for a medical shuttle," The second Jedi added and handed Finn a small, circular device. Finn took it and started to walk to the once peaceful Meadow. He gulped; he was going to have to fight for the first time in his life.

Corellia, a planet that had been decimated by the Empire ten years ago, fortunately the Empire was pushed off the planet and the Republic was just beginning to rebuild all the damage that had been caused by the war. Of course they had to make sure that the city was safe from gangs and the remnants of the Empire's army. That duty fell to the soldiers of the Republic, like Chris. A trooper who was patrolling the street of this ruined planet. He and his squad were making their usual rounds when he heard a beeping from his pocket. He took out a holocommunicator and answered it. A holographic image of a well-dressed man appeared.

"Sergeant Chris reporting sir," The young male said.

"At ease," The holographic image said, "I have just received a report that a few gang members have taken over a warehouse not far from your location. You are to move out and deal with this threat immediately."

"Sir, yes sir," Chris exclaimed with a salute.

"Report to me when you finish, I'll be uploading the coordinates of the warehouse now," The image said and disappeared.

"New orders from command," One of Chris' squad mates asked.

"Yes," Chris said and began to walk off into the run down streets, "Keep close and watch out!"

"Yes sir," The squad replied. The group followed Chris until they came to the warehouse. Chris quietly slid the door open and walked in. He took cover behind a corner and notice several people dressing in red robes standing around. The red robes had some kind of strange marking on them. Chris took a deep breath and loaded his blaster rifle. Rolling out from cover, he gave out a victory screech and charged at the horde of enemies that awaited him.

Nar Shadda, a planet deemed "The Smuggler's Moon". Word is, if there is a business for it, legal or not, you can find it on Nar Shadda. The planet is a bustling city with bright lights, and over whelming amount of sounds, and a place where you could easily get lost if you made one wrong turn. It is in a cantina on this hive of scum and villainy does the story of Aaron, a bounty hunter, begin.

Aaron was sipping a nice round of Corellian Whiskey as he scanned the room with his one cybernetic eye. The other eye was as organic as any other. He noticed two men talking at the other end of the bar. One was a Trandoshan, one of the reptilian races in the galaxy, with a vibrosword. The other was a normal human wielding two blaster pistols. Aaron decided to check out what the two people were talking about.

"Did you hear about that new bounty hunter on Nar Shadda," The Trandoshan asked in his raspy voice.

"Yeah, word has it he's got a bounty for Tyro the Hutt," The man responded.

"Look no one takes a bounty on that Hutt and lives, we'll make sure of that," The Lizardman stated.

"Oh really," Aaron said and approached the two thugs, "I'll bet you two anything that he's going to kill Tyro the Hutt and every other Hutt in this galaxy. That was my promise after all!"

The two people looked over at the male with the cybernetic eye, "That's the bounty hunter! Get him!"

The Trandoshain charged at Aaron, who tried firing a missile at the lizard. He missed. The pistol user fired. He missed as well. Aaron fired a missile again. Boom! The Trandoshan was blown to pieces. An arm hit the other man as blood got on his clothes. In a panic the man began to run for the door. Aaron thought otherwise. The last few moments of the pistol user's life were spent watching a blaster bolt fly through his head. Aaron laughed and holstered his gun, he really did love blowing stuff up.

Back on Tython, Finn had charged forward, trying to make his way past the shadow creatures without being seen. Unfortunately, stealth was not his specialty. Three shadows easily noticed him and ran forward. Finn mustered enough courage to fight and pulled out his training saber. He focused his energy and pulled a big rock from the ground before tossing it at one of the shadows. The rock hit and knocked the shadow senseless. The second shadow lunged at Finn who ducked under the attack and attempted to run the shadow through with his sword. The shadow dodged at kicked Finn. Finn reeled back. The third shadow swung at Finn. Who barely managed to dodge. Finn drove his sword through the first shadow which made it dissipate. The second show struck Finn. This sent the young Jedi to the ground. The Jedi managed to get up and toss a boulder at the second shadow. This boulder crushed the shadow's body as the third shadow kicked him the Jedi in the stomach. Unfortunately for the shadow, Finn recovered from the attack and thrust his training saber through the head of the shadow, its black blood flying on Finn's face, causing him to freak out. That was until he heard like a rock falling.

Chris was firing with deadly accuracy. He'd killed about ten men and he hadn't even needed to reload. As this yelling and screaming was doing its best for him. One thug ran toward Chris, but with a well-aimed shot to the face, the thug was struck down. As Chris hurdled over the man's corpse he unloaded his weapon again. This time, he shot a thug about ten times in the stomach before reloading. After this quick down time he slammed the butt of his rifle into the man's face. Chris managed to roll into a nearby room that locked itself. He heard what sounded like heavy breathing. Then, crash! An over muscular man carrying a rocket launcher came out of nowhere. The man let out a blood curling, spine tingling roar before charging at Chris. The soldier steeled himself and roared back, rushing to confront his foe head on. If he was going to die it would be on his feet and not cowering in the corner.

Aaron sat near the smoldering corpses of the men who had tried to attack him. Just then, a woman with cybernetic implants present on her face came in.

"Aaron, what did you think you were doing," She exclaimed, "Now Tyro the Hutt will never want our audience!"

"They attacked me first, I shot them back in self-defense," Aaron said and sipped some more whiskey.

The girl grumbled, "Wait until your mentor hears about this," she took out a holocommunicator and pressed a button. The image of a thirty year old man with reddish hair and decked in heavy armor appeared.

"What is it Mako," The man asked.

"Aege, Our little friend here just blew up two of Tyro's personal guards," The girl shouted.

"Calm down, if I know anything chances are that the Hutt would be all too happy that they're dead. More money to keep for themselves," The man said, "We can work with this though; no doubt Tyro be looking for more guards. Heck, he could even use a bounty hunter."

"What is the plan then," The girl asked.

"Simple, all Aaron has to do is go and apply to be a bounty hunter for the Hutt. Once he gets enough trust, and you finish making the bomb, he'll kill that Hutt once and for all," The man said.

"That sounds like a good plan, I could start planting rumors about him if you wish," The girl replied.

"Sounds great, work your magic and we'll get back on track," The hologram said and shut off.

"We got lucky this time," The girl, Mako, said to Aaron, "But please try to keep that gun from going off unless it is needed."

Aaron didn't catch that last part, "Indeed, now all I've got to do is impress a Hutt," He smiled, "Piece of cake."


	2. Chapter 2

Crusaders of the Stars 2

After his first ever battle, Finn heard what sounded like a rock falling. He decided to check it out. Maybe it was the Padawans or maybe it was just more shadows trying to lure him into some kind of trap. If it was the former, he would be grateful to get one part of his assignment over with. It was the latter he would have to fight again and increase his chances of dying a horrible death. The young Jedi made his way to a rock formation that looked like it could shelter people except for one thing, there has a huge rock blocking the entrance to the make shift cave. Finn gulped and put his palm forward. He successfully managed to move the rock out of the way and onto a patch of grass. Three Padawans came out of the "cave".

"Oh thank The Maker," The first one exclaimed, "We thought we'd die in there!"

"Worry no more Padawans," Finn said, although he himself was a Padawan.

"Great, but how are we going to get out of here," The second Padawan asked.

"I have a device that can call a medical shuttle," Finn said and pulled out his device.

"But haven't you already cleared a path," The third Padawan asked, "Can't we just go now and not risk those shadows finding us again?"

The Padawans Finn had rescued jumped onto this idea and clung to it.

"Patience is a virtue that a Jedi must learn to exercise," Finn said, "I would suggest you wait here for a medical shuttle to arrive. It is the only way to be certain that you make it to the other Jedi safely."

"I can see where you're coming from," The second Padawan said, "We shall wait here."

Finn called the medical shuttle and let the Padawans be, he was sure they could hold out until it arrived. He soon came across a flower giving off a strange glow. He instantly recognized this as the flower he needed to bring back to the Jedi Master. As he crotched down to pick the flower the ground rumbled behind him. All of a sudden a gigantic shadow shaped like a worm burst out of the ground and roared. Finn was stunned. He'd have to fight again. There was no way he was going to survive this time.

Chris started the over muscular man in the eyes. There was two ways to come out of this situation, dead or victorious. Chris smiled and after the hulk like man roared and charged. He ran as fast as he could before beginning to open fire. The bullets whizzed forward and hit the hulk a few times but the mass of flesh seemed to easily walk it off. The man took out what looked like a rocket launcher and fired it at Chris. Fortunately for Chris, the rocket was slow enough that he easily ducked under the attack and fired several shots at "The hulk" and caused the man to cringe. This gave Chris enough time to fire another round into the hulk's flesh. The hulk gave out another roar before tossing his rocket launcher aside.

"I will crush you now," The man exclaimed and lunged at Chris. The next thing the solider knew, he was lying on the ground and receiving several brutal punches to the face. He was punched again. He felt blood drip from his face. He tried his best to stay awake. Things kept getting darker and darker. The punches began to sound more melodic. Chris grabbed a knife that he kept on his person and dug into the man's next. Tearing out the hulk's vocal chords and causing more blood to fall on his face. After enough blood loss, Chris kicked the hulk off of him and looked up. The door had opened just in time for him to see his squad mates take out the last of the thugs. They looked at him. He gave the thumbs up before hitting the ground.

"Get Chris a medic, ASAP," He heard one of his squad mates exclaim.

"So where are we headed," Aaron asked Mako.

"The Vertican Casino, It is Tyro the Hutt's base of operations," Mako, a female cyborg, said as they pulled up to a mess of bright lights, "All you need to do is go in and make an impression."

Aaron nodded and hopped out of the taxi they had taken to the casino. Aaron wasn't one to turn away from easy credits though; he proceeded to make a few bets, "One thousand five hundred credits," The bounty hunter laughed, "If making credits were this easy I wouldn't have to be a bounty hunter!"

"Keep your mind on the mission," Mako said.

Aaron shrugged as a Trandoshan came up to him, "Tyro the Hutt has personally requested your presence. I suggest you follow me."

"How about no," Aaron said and shot the lizardman in the face; He got up and headed for what looked like where Tyro would be. Unfortunately a green pig man was standing in his way.

"No one sees the boss without Ruas' approval," The pig man said and took out an axe.

"I don't need his approval to get through," Aaron remarked.

"Then you will die," The pig man exclaimed and charged at the bounty hunter, who sighed and fired a missile, blowing the pig man's head off. Aaron laughed and walked in. In front of him was an extremely overweight slug.

"Ah, you must be Aaron, the man who killed two of my best bodyguards," The Hutt said.

"And you must be Tyro," Aaron responded.

"Indeed I am," The Hutt said, "I know you bounty hunters are always looking for credits, how about you do a few jobs for me. I can pay you an extravagant amount of money."

Aaron smiled, "You know how to speak my language!"

The Hutt laughed and continued, "You see, there is a man from the Exchange named Vol Aramand, he has been adamant about not working with me as a business partner. He even killed my best diplomat."

"It is always hard to lose someone," Aaron said.

"Indeed, that man was getting me more credits that half of my businesses combined!"

I forgot, Aaron thought to himself, Hutts only care about money, "Do you wish for me to exterminate him?"

The Hutt nodded, "Yes, go and bring me his head or any body part you decide not to blow up."

"Yes sir," Aaron smiled.

"Good, now go to the Corellian Sector, that is where this man is being holed up," The Hutt said before Aaron was right at the door, "And don't come back unless you have killed him!"

Finn was frozen in terror. How could he hope to stand up against this shadowy worm that wanted to rip him limb from limb. He took a few calming breaths as the worm surged toward him. The Jedi consular barely managed to jump of the way of the worm. Unfortunately, the lower portion of his brown robe was ripped up by the worm's teeth. The worm turned around and head for Finn again. This time, The Miraluka stood his ground and threw a boulder at the worm. Success! The boulder hit the worm and scrambled its brains for a few precious seconds. Finn decided to act and hit the worm on the head with his training saber before trying to stab it. The worm's brain unscrambled itself and made the worm smack Finn into a tree. The Padawan had to act fast because the worm was now darting towards him at top speed. Smash! Finn barely managed to get out of the tree before the worm burrowed through it. The worm turned around and attempted to attack its target again. This time though, its prey was prepared. Finn sent another boulder at the worm, stunning it, before driving his training saber through the worm's head then twisted the weapon to make sure the wound would be fatal. As he pulled the training saber loose, the worm's brain spilled out on the ground. The Padawan almost threw up. He hastily plucked the flower and headed back to where he had first encounter the Jedi Masters, his only hope was that he would be there in time to save the Padawans who were succumbing to a fate worse than death.

Chris woke up in an infirmary with a needle piercing his black, muscular arm. He took a deep breath as he realized that he was still alive. His squad mates were eagerly standing near his hospital bed. Some were playing a game of Sabakk while another one was checking his rifle. The fifth one was looking at the reconstruction of Corellia.

"Hey guys," Chris said weakly, "Miss me?"

The squad mates looked at Chris for a few seconds before breaking out in cheers and dancing. A doctor walked in and looked at Chris, "I see you're feeling better."

"Yeah," Chris said, "Not sure if I can go back to patrolling anytime soon, but yes, I'm good."

"Actually, General Hizen ordered me to administer several shots of Kolto into you," The doctor said.

"He must really need me on the job," Chris said as he felt the medicine taking effect. The doctor took out the needle and Chris started at himself in the mirror. A twenty year old human could have been in worse shape after that battle, but not Chris. He checked his eyes to see if anything had happened to them. But they were a perfectly normal brown. After some more inspection, he put on his uniform and grabbed his rifle, "The General probably needs us to do something, let's move out team," Chris ordered as he left the room. His squad mates followed until they met a human with small horns and strange marking on his face.

"Sergeant Chris reporting for duty, sir," Chris exclaimed with a salute.

"At ease," The man said, "As the doctor probably told you I had you injected with a good amount of Kolto."

"Yes, the doctor told me that, sir," Chris said.

"Good, you see, those thugs that had taken over the warehouse have struck the Solonian tunnels. I need you and your team to go in there and remove their presence," The man said.

"We can do that General Hizen, sir," Chris said and saluted, "In fact just give us the coordinates and we will move out!"

"A man of action," The horned man smiled, "I like that, and here are the coordinates for the Solonian Tunnels."

Chris took a small device from the man and nodded, "We'll double-time it sir."

"Dismissed Sergeant," The man said. Chris and his squad took off for the next objective. They weren't going to let the General down no way, no how.

Aaron stepped out of the Taxi that led to the Corellian sector and began to walk around. There wasn't much except for a few cyborgs from the criminal organization, known as The Exchange, were giving him looks. Aaron had always felt comfortable around fellow cyborgs. Of course that didn't change the fact that he had a job to do and that he had to go to any lengths to get it done, even if that meant killing a few cyborgs. When the bounty hunter came to a small intersection, a man with grey hair and a cybernetic arm approached him.

"I've never seen you around here before, do you work with The Exchange," The man asked.

"I'm a freelance bounty hunter," Aaron said, "That is all you need to know."

"Very well, I may have a job for one such as you, but I'm going to need you to come with me. You're going to need superior fire power if you want to get the job done right," The man said and began to walk away. Aaron began to follow him, "The name is Vol Aramand, and you may know me because I'm one of the primary targets of Tyro the Hutt."

"Oh really, I've never heard of you before," Aaron lied.

"Interesting, not many bounty hunters can say they've never heard of me," The old man said as the two came to an armory, "I will pay you a large sum of credits if you take out Tyro, what do you say?"

"Let me think on it," The bounty hunter said and began to look at some of the weapons in the armory, "Can this pistol blast through a Hutt?"

"Indeed it can, heck that one was even used by a great bounty hunter, it is said that he killed a Hutt with that blaster," The old man said and leaned on an armory rack next to a crate.

"Perfect," Aaron laughed a fired a wrist rocket at the crate. The crate exploded and blew off the old man's left side; "Looks like you're alright," Aaron laughed manically and took the man's right half. All of a sudden things in the armory began to explode, "Damn it," The bounty hunter cursed before taking a few weapons and leaving the armory in a blazing mess.

"I got a few new weapons and I got paid," The bounty hunter laughed, "Boy this day keeps getting better and better!"


	3. Chapter 3

Crusaders of the Stars 3

Finn ran back to the two Jedi masters who had assigned him his tasks. He handed the flowers to the first Jedi.

"Good, I will work on a medicine right away," The Jedi said.

"May I come with you," Finn asked.

The Jedi nodded, "I don't see why not," and the two made their way to the infirmary where the Jedi turned the special flower into medicine. Finn looked at the Padawans. It was just as bad as the Jedi Master had described. Their faces had begun to turn pitch black and their eyes looked like black voids.

"We shall have our moment of glory on Athiss," One Padawan exclaimed as the others quickly joined in. The Jedi master sighed as he finished a salve.

"Drink this young one," He said and put the salve in the Padawan's mouth. The Padawan began to have something like a seizure and began to spout gibberish. The only thing Finn could make out was the word Athiss. The Jedi master looked at Finn, "I fear this has just become more complicated. If these men are mentioning the planet Athiss, then Vodel Kresh might be coming back."

Finn had heard about the people who had gone to the planet Athiss and came jabbering incoherently, "Should I warn the council?"

"Yes, go to Master Odar," The Jedi said, "He will know what to do."

Finn was already headed that way so he decided to take on this task as well. He left the infirmary and headed down a well-paved path. Not noticing that several shadowy men were stalking him. He came to an archway and gave a sigh of relief. The next thing he knew. He was being beaten to a pulp by the shadows. There was no escape this time; he was as good as dead.

Chris made his way into the Solonian tunnels. He came to a corner and peaked past it. He noticed that two of the thugs dressed in red robes were guarding a room that was holding even more of their gang. Chris looked at one of his squad mates and motioned for him to move in. The squad mate took out a silence pistol and fired. Silently and efficiently taking out the bad guys. Chris and his squad moved onto the walls next to the door.

"Striker," Chris said to his squad mate who was holding a sniper rifle, "Find a good sniping spot and work your magic. Wasters, No scope, move in on the left side, Bing, on the right side with me. The squad got into position as Chris signaled for Striker to fire. Bang! One shot, one kill. The thugs began to panic and randomly fire all over the place. Chris and the rest of his squad ran into cover. Waster set his gun on automatic and opened fire, like he always did. No scope was killing people with one shot, right and left. Bing pulled a grenade from his belt and tossed it into the crowd. The blast killed about five thugs and knocked the others down. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Chris finished off some of the ones on the ground. Easy pickings. Some of the grunts were firing at the squad while others just randomly fired all over the place.

A loud shot rang out; this quieted all the scrambling grunts. The shot caught the attention of everyone in the room. A man with red armor stood on a podium holding a pistol.

"Everyone, Keep calm and," Bang! The man was shot dead by a well place sniper shot to the neck.

The thugs began to scramble again and Bing tossed out a few frag grenades. Chris noticed several huge steel bars that hung over the group of thugs. A few ropes held up the bars, Chris smiled and fired his weapon. The robes gave way and the steel bars came falling down, squashing a good number of the thugs. The squad cleaned up the rest of the thugs.

"We are the best," Waste exclaimed as he gave the team high fives. Chris smiled as his holocommunicator rang. He pulled it up and the image of man with small horns and strange markings on is face appeared.

"I take it by that celebration that you have cleared the Solonian tunnels," The man said.

"Yes sir," Chris said.

"Good, report back to base, there is an urgent matter that needs to be discussed," The General said.

"Sir, yes sir," Chris said as the hologram disappeared. He looked at his squad and nodded, "Back to base folks!"

The squad followed their leader with a new kind of fire in their eye. Not a fire of vengeance or bloodshed, but of hope. Hope that their next mission would be as exciting as this last one.

Aaron headed back to Tyro the Hutt and set the right half of Vol Aramand on the ground, "I'm done."

The Hutt laughed, "Indeed you are and I have to say you did a great job at preserving his body!"

"Then show me how impressed you are in credits," The bounty hunter smiled.

"Indeed," The Hutt said and snapped his fingers, a slave girl came out of a room to the left and handed Aaron a case of credits. Aaron gladly took it, as he opened it he easily counted out one hundred thousand credits.

"I think we'd make a good team," Aaron said and gave a wicked smile.

"Yes, and I have another assignment for you,"

"Oh? What is it?"

"Selmin, the owner of a gambling den in the Red Light District, has refused to pay me his protection money."

"So you need me to beat him to death and take the money from his corpse."

"No! Do you have any idea how many credits I'd lose if you killed him? Just rough him up a bit for me."

Aaron sighed, "Fine, ruin all the fun," He grumbled under his breath, "One roughed up gambling den owner coming right up!"

Finn managed to knock the shadows off him but he realized that he was starting to lose consciousness. The shadows began to close in on the Padawan. When all of a sudden, a Jedi wielding two lightsabers appeared out of nowhere and stabbed a shadow in the chest. The Jedi then flipped over Finn and drove two sabers into a shadow's chest. Finn stared in awe as the Jedi pushed another shadow into a tree. The Jedi stabbed a shadow who tried to sneak up on his before leaping over Finn again and slashing the last shadow with his blades in a cross formation. The Jedi looked at Finn.

"Are you alright Padawan," He asked Finn.

Finn gave a light nod, still trying to recover from the shock of having several shadows beat on him.

"Come, I'll escort you to the Jedi temple," The mysterious Jedi said, Finn agreed and followed the Jedi to a building so big it made a giant monster like a Rancor look like a dwarf. It also helped that the building was decorated with lavish inscriptions and a relaxing garden. Finn had learned very quickly that Tython wasn't all peacefulness and sunshine. Normally the enemies hide in the quiet places like this. The Jedi and Finn approached the temple and headed into a room. There, a green skinned human with strange markings on his face was meditating in the center in the room, "Master Odar," The Jedi said, "I found the Padawan you were looking for."

"Very good," The green skinned man said as he opened his eyes and rose up, "I was told you had something to tell me," Finn thought for a second and then told Master Odar what the Padawan's who were succumbing to the darkness had said. The Master sighed, "It is indeed as bad as Master Melcin had thought. I'd felt a disturbance on Athiss a few days ago. This disturbance feels much like the one I felt a few hours ago when those shadow beings attacked the Gnarls."

"I suggest we do something," The Jedi said, "Padawan, you and I are heading to Athiss."

"Very well Master Daeson, I will eagerly await the Padawan's return," Master Odar nodded.

"Come Padawan, my ship is in the Spaceport not too far from here,"Daeson said.

"Right behind you Master," Finn said with that the two left for the spaceport. One was eager to end the threat on Athiss, the other one wanted to stay alive long enough to tell the tale.

Chris arrived back at the base where The General was waiting.

"Sergeant Chris," The General said, "We have just received a report that these thugs are planning something big on the planet Athiss."

"How big," Chris inquired.

"We're talking something that could destroy the universe," The General said, "I'm sending you to the planet Athiss Immediately!"

"What about my squad sir?" Chris asked.

"They will be staying here on Corellia, we need someone to keep the streets clean," The General said.

Chris looked at his squad, "I guess this is good-bye."

"Hey don't be down Sarge," Striker said, "We'll keep in touch!"

"That sounds like a good plan," Chris smiled and with that he walked with The General towards the Spaceport, hoping that he and his squad would be reunited again.

Aaron hopped out of the taxi to the Red Light Sector and made his way to the gambling den. Upon going inside he decided to play his luck with some of the gambling machines. Today was not one of his good days though.

"Eight hundred credits," He growled under his breath before taking out his pistol and shooting the gambling machine. The resulted explosion was enough to get the attention of someone. A red skinned Twi'lek walked up to him. The Twi'lek was escorted by two armed robot guards.

"Excuse me, what seems to be the problem," The Twi'lek asked.

"Oh nothing," Aaron smiled, "I'm just looking for the man in charge of this establishment."

"That would be me," The Twi'lek said.

"Good, why aren't you paying Tyro the Hutt his protection money," Aaron asked and pointed his pistol at the Twi'lek's face.

"Guards, get him," The Twi'lek exclaimed. The robots each took out a huge auto cannon and began to open fire. Nicking Aaron on both his shoulders, the bounty hunter fired a shot from his pistol. That missed. The robots fired. Aaron was hit in the leg. Aaron clenched his teeth and fired a missile at one of the robots. Critical hit! The robot fell to the ground with its head blown to pieces. The second robot fired. Miss. Aaron was wise enough to aim for the head this time and killed the second robot. He walked up to the Twi'lek with his shirt collar.

"Pay Tyro the protection money or else I am going to blow this gambling den sky high," Aaron growled.

The Twi'lek nodded and took out a pad, "See? I'm transferring the credits right now! Heck I've even put some in your account!"

"Smart man," Aaron said and set the Twi'lek down. He turned around and headed outside. Just then his holocommunicator rang. He answered it. Mako's image appeared.

"Aaron, we've got the bomb we're going to use to kill Tyro ready," She said.

Aaron cackled manically, letting everyone know that he was going to savor the moment, "Good, I can't wait to see Hutt body parts flying all over the place."


	4. Chapter 4

Crusaders of the Stars 4

The ship Finn had boarded with the Jedi Knight Daeson began to fly close to the planet Athiss. Too be honest, Finn couldn't see how a planet like this could have ever sustained life. Much less been to home of the Sith Vodal Kresh, its barren lands housed too many rocks, very little water, and the sun looked like it constantly baked the sand to a nice earthen brown. There was no possible way one could have made the magnificent ruins like the ones Finn as the ship flew to the spaceport. The shuttle door opened and the two stepped out. They were instantly greeted by a male Miraluka, who seemed to be a consular like Finn.

The Miraluka bowed "Ah Master Daeson, it is a pleasure to see you here. I take it you have a new Padawan."

"Temporarily Jolthar," The Knight replied, "He will be helping us fix this problem on Athiss."

The Miraluka nodded, "I fear the Sith has also sensed what is going on here and are intent to stop it."

"Why would a Sith want to stop this, aren't they dark side worshippers as well," Finn asked.

Daeson nodded, "But they do not like competition," He said and continued, "How do you know the Empire is here?"

"Recently, there was an Imperial Camp set up to the north. Our scouts even confirmed that a few Sith were there as well," Jolthar said.

"So why don't we go there and kick their butts," Finn asked.

"No, we're not ready to take them on just yet," Daeson said, "If I know anything, these Sith are probably looking for some ancient artifacts."

"One of our Research teams to the east did report about digging up some kind of holocron," Jolthar said, "But that was a week ago."

Daeson looked concerned, "Padawan, head east to the dig site and check out what is going on there. Jolthar and I will try and predict where the Sith might strike next."

"Yes Master," Finn said and headed off to the east. After much walking we came to a decent sized hole in the ground with various pieces of machinery and picks scattered about the place. Finn noticed some people who looked like Republic diggers near the bottom of the trench. He called to them and they greet him with insane laughter. They picked up their tools and charged at him. Finn gulped. He thought he would have been done with fighting when he got off Tython. Boy was he wrong.

Chris' shuttle touched down near a small encampment on the barren planet Athiss. He took a few steps off of the ship to which he was instantly greeted by a trooper in what looked like very ornate armor.

"Good to see you," The Trooper said, "I am Major Roland of Havoc Squad."

"It is an honor to meet you sir," Chris exclaimed with a salute.

"At ease Sergeant," The Major said, "As you know there is a new gang that has been threatening various planets in the Galaxy. You may also know that they are doing something big on this planet. Unfortunately that is all we know."

"Then how do we find out what they're up to," Chris asked.

"Well there was a recent attack on an Imperial Scout Camp to the north. I'm guessing the attackers could still be there. I need you to go out and see if the attackers are carrying any plans that could give us insight as to why they are here," The Major said.

"How can you be sure the attackers are still there, or that they have plans regarding their mission on this planet?"

"I'm not sure, but we have to start somewhere."

"Very well sir, I will set out immediately!"

"A good work ethic, the Republic could use more people like you."

"Yes sir!"

"Dismissed Sergeant," Roland said, with that the young Republic soldier ran out and towards the north. Hoping he could get there before the attackers left.

At the same time the Republic lap dogs were completing their meaningless errands for their superiors. A shuttle carrying the Sith Apprentice Atheros touched down on the planet Athiss. The young Sith pure blood stepped out onto the baked earth and took a deep breath. He into a small Imperial encampment where he was soon met by an Imperial officer, "Hello there, you must be Darth Nekarion's new apprentice," The officer said, "I have a task for one such as you."

"A Sith has no time for tasks suited for the Imperial filth," The Sith snapped.

"Of course they're not, but I do think there is something that might interest you. You see, our scout's forward base of operations was attacked. They managed to run away to a location to the south of us. I need you to go and check out if they're still alive," The officer said, "Look for a man named Saito. He's probably going to be eating something."

"So how does this benefit me," The Sith growled.

The officer smiled, "Oh yes! You see, there is a cave in that southern area that is said to house a beast whose lenses would help make a very powerful lightsaber."

"Very well," The Apprentice spat, "I shall go on this meaningless errand."

"Thank you sir," The officer said with a bow.

"Just don't think this means that I'll start doing your little chores."

"Understood sir," The officer said before the pure-blooded Sith ran to the south. He only had one goal in mind, killing the beast and getting its lenses. The research team didn't matter at all. Besides, how could a team of scouts possibly help a Sith Apprentice?

Finn ducked under one of the crazed digger's attacks before getting knocked back on his feet. The young Jedi spun around and knocked back the attackers with a twirling kick as he hopped onto his feet. He began to scan the area for any possible reason why these researchers would have gone crazy. He noticed that there was a strange glowing red cube with markings on it in the center of the bit. Finn smiled and pulled a hunk of rock loose from the surrounding area before hurling it at the box. The rock flew forward and smashed the cube into several pieces as it began to give off a red mist. This red mist formed into what looked like the ghost of a Sith Lord.

"How dare you destroy the work of Lord Cerian! I will rip your heart from your chest and use it to bring myself back into the realm of the living Jedi!" The ghost exclaimed and drew a strange colored lightsaber. It charged at Finn, who barely managed to duck under its first attack before getting hit in the stomach. The young Jedi stumbled back before throwing a rock at the ghost. Surprisingly the rock hit ghost but didn't faze it. The ghost zoomed forward and tried to attack Finn. The Jedi councilor managed to block some of the attacks but got hit by the hilt of the ghost. Finn stepped back and thrust his sword at the ghost. The attack was blocked. Cling! Slice! Clang! Stab! A flurry of blows came from the two combatants. Each strike met its opponent's blade. Finn decided it was time to pull a stunt. Finn faked out the force ghost before spinning around and decapitating it, "You know you can never destroy me in this state! I'll be back to finish you off Jedi! Once and for all!"

"You can try, but the Jedi will always prevail," Finn said as the ghost disappeared. He looked at the diggers who seemed to be coming back to their senses.

"What happened," One of them asked.

"It looks like that holocron really did drive us crazy," Another digger said.

"Where is it," The first one asked.

"I destroyed it," Finn said.

"Good riddance," The first and the second digger exclaimed, "You might have actually saved us from the assassins who attacked the Imperial camp!"

"Why would assassins attack an Imperial camp," Finn asked.

"I have no clue," The first digger said, "Maybe you could go and defeat them. I mean you did shatter that holocron and all."

Finn nodded, "I suppose I could. Where was the camp?"

"It was to the northwest of here," A digger said.

"Then I shall be off," Finn replied and headed out. As he made his way further to the northwest, he could hear the sounds of battle. Gun fire, explosions, and even what sounded like a death yell. Finn approached the camp cautiously and noticed a well armored man standing near three dead bodies. Finn thought the man had to be the assassin and charged straight at him. He only realized his mistake seconds before it was too late.

Chris took the trek to the north in search of the Imperial camp; he expected it to be crawling with the hooded thugs but, much to his surprise. He spied only three. Then again the barren wasteland and the hot sun could just be playing tricks on him. He took out his blaster rifle and prepared for combat. He quietly made his way up to the camp and tried to take one of the attackers out with a well-placed shot. He missed. The attackers immediately discerned his location and pulled out their weapons. Two pulled out blaster pistols. The last one pulled out what looked like a vibroblade. The first thug fired his blaster pistol at Chris. The trooper was hit on the top of shoulder but didn't suffer any life threatening injuries. The next one with a blaster pistol attacked, it was a miss. The man with the vibrosword ran at Chris and hit ho, on the chest with the vibrosword. Chris set opened fire on the man and hit him about 3 times with the rifle. The thug stumbled back before being blown apart by an explosive round from Chris. The other assassins opened fire on the trooper, who was hit about three times. The young hero fired his gun. Miss. He was hit again by another round of bullets. He started to feel a bit woozy; he was losing blood after all. The trooper had to act fast. There had to be something that could heal him and heal him quickly. He noticed the corpse of an Imperial medic grasping what looked like a med pack. He smiled and ran over to the med pack. He quickly healed himself before letting out a volley of fire. Chris managed to kill another attacker and fired an explosive round at the last man standing, knocking him to his feet. The trooper ran over to the man and fired several times, no doubt killing this defenseless man.

The trooper gave a sigh of relief before hearing something move in the bushes. He turned around and saw what looked like a young Jedi running towards him. He aimed his gun at the Padawan. Fortunately, the Jedi cringed at the sight of the gun. Had he not, Chris would have probably had to kill him.

Atheros was now in some kind of canyon. He hated it. There was no life to crush here, how pathetic. He looked everywhere he could for something to defeat but the scarred lands only mocked him. He roared and stabbed a rock with his training saber. Of course the saber barely managed to go through. The apprentice was even angrier now and wanted to kill the next thing that moved. Speaking of that, did that shadow just move? No, shadows don't move, do they? Wait! That shadow did move! The thing probably had been stalking him since he set foot in the canyon! Did you just see that? Another shadow moved! A wicked grin crept across the pure-blooded Sith's face.

"Come at me you weaklings," He laughed. All of a sudden four shadows stood up and began to look like real people except they were completely pitch black. The shadows charged at Atheros, but he easily dodge their attack and shocked one. He turned around and struck another on the arm before sliding under third shadow and kicking it in the back. Wham! He was punched in the back by a shadow. He fell to the ground but managed to roll out of the way of the next attack before striking the fourth shadow. Pow! He was hit in the back of the head by the first shadow. These things now seemed to be getting smarter. He whipped around and tried to hit one with his saber. Miss. Smack! Slap! He was punched again. His stuck, a miss again. Biff! Bam! Kapow! Smack! He was hit by all the shadows this time. There is no way a Sith could lose to such weak-minded fools as these! Atheros thought before getting a second wind. He shocked the first shadow, causing it to contort before bursting into a cloud of black blood. The Apprentice smiled and drove his sword through the chest of the second shadow before turning around and decapitating the head off third shadow. He finished off the fourth shadow with a blade right through the chest. He laughed and noticed a big cave. As he got closer to the cave he felt the presence of the dark side. Surely this was where that beast made its home. He walked inside and noticed several Imperial scouts were lying around dead. Obviously they had succumbed to wounds from battle. In the corner was a man who looked about 250 pounds and was holding a sniper rifle. The man had no hair and various purple tattoos on his face.

"Pity you weren't the first to die," The Apprentice sighed.

"Of course, because the fact that I'm fat means I still can't run fast or fight well," The man snapped, "Anyways, you must be looking for that Imperial scout party."

"I'm looking for a beast that is said to live around here," Atheros said.

"Of course, look the names Saito and I was the head of the scouting party before we were ambushed by some thugs in red robes," The man continued.

"I don't care, you were weak and I should leave you here to die," Atheros snapped.

All of a sudden a Terentatek ran up to them.

"I think this must be his home," Saito said.

Atheros knew that this was the beast he needed to kill. The fight was going to be tough but he had to do it.

"What do you say both of us take this guy on," Saito said, "I mean, the Empire has no use for a dead Sith!"

"Indeed," Atheros agreed, "May we spill this beast's blood today! And may it be glorious!"

"Right behind you," Saito smiled and aimed his sniper rifle at the beast.


	5. Chapter 5

Crusaders of the Stars 5

A freighter captain was sitting in his ship. He was leaning back in his chair as he put his feet on the navigation map.

"Easiest credits ever," The Captain laughed, all of a sudden. Kaboom! The next thing the captain knew the ship was going down in a giant fireball. The captain tried to scramble for some way to keep his ship from shattering into a million pieces. It was no use though. A tear fell down his cheek as he ran to the escape pod and landed on the planet's surface. Only to watch his prized possession shatter into an unsalvageable wreck. Now how was he going to get the guns to the Republic, there was no possible way he could do now. Scavengers would be coming to this wreck, as well as Imperials. He was carrying some pretty good weapons after all. He grabbed what he could from the blazing wreck and began to make the trek to the Republic base on foot. He was going to be in a lot of trouble, but he had to make the journey. That was his job after all and it would be bad business to not get the job done.

Finn looked at the Republic soldier who was pointing a gun at him.

"What are you doing here," Finn asked.

The trooper eased up, but was still pointing his gun at Finn, "I was sent here to take care of a few assassins. I also needed to learn what these guys were up to."

"So was I," Finn said.

"Then I guess you're out of luck, huh," The trooper laughed and began to rifle the corpses.

"It is not right to steal from the dead," Finn said.

"Perhaps these people have something that could tell me about why there here on their person," The trooper replied, "Did you think of that?"

Finn shrugged as the trooper pulled out what looked like a holocommunicator. He pressed a button and a message began to play.

"Greetings young Acolyte, as you know the road to ascension is a long and arduous one, but I know you can do it. You are to go to an Imperial scouting post to the south and see what you can find about the holocron of Darth Gen. The Imperial scum were sent to find that thing. Kill them if you can. We can't have any competition! Long live the Emperor," The message exclaimed before shutting off.

"I don't get it," The trooper said, "Why would people attack Imperials but say long live the Emperor. Isn't he the leader of the Imperials?"

Finn nodded, "Yes I believe he is."

"Very odd," The trooper said before going over to a computer, "Interesting, these scouts did find the location of a holocron. And it looks like the assassins already transferred the data. This is bad. I'm transferring this to command."

"Why don't we go get the holocron," Finn asked.

"The things in the middle of a dark temple, there is no telling how many monsters could be there."

"That's true; do you think we could report to your superiors and possibly get a team to go to the ruins?"

"Good plan, let's go!"

With that, Finn and the trooper headed back to the Republic base, hoping that they could foil these thug's plans for good.

Chris looked at the young Jedi who had ambushed him. The two were now walking back to the Republic base to report what had happened at the Imperial camp.

"So what is your name," Chris asked.

"Finn," The Jedi replied, "Yours?"

"Chris,"

"Oh, cool."

"So what do the Jedi want from this barren planet?"

"Well there were these strange shadows that attacked Tython and our masters sensed their presence on here."

Chris scratched his head. He could never get all that stuff with the force and whatever. The two approached the Republic base and met Major Roland.

"Sergeant, good to see you," The Major said, "I see you found the Padawan Master Daeson had sent out."

"Indeed I did sir," Chris exclaimed, "We found some kind of plan. They were after some kind of holocron. After that I have no idea what else they wanted sir!"

"Do you have any idea where this holocron could be," The Major asked.

"I sent the map to command, sir," Chris said.

"So that was the map pointing to somewhere to the west," The Major said, "Good work Soldier, we'll send a team there immediately."

"Also sir, the attacker's plans mentioned the Emperor."

"Interesting, why would they attack an Imperial outpost if they served the Emperor," Roland said, "I'll have to figure this out. For now, I have some new weapons to give you."

"Awesome," Chris exclaimed, just then a freighter captain appeared behind the three. The captain stumbled for a few seconds and collapsed to the ground.

"Quick, get a medic for this man, stat," Roland exclaimed.

The freighter captain woke up in an infirmary. He didn't look too bad except for the ripped clothes and scabs on his body. It honestly could have been a lot worse. He looked around and noticed a young Jedi and a young Republic soldier talking to someone who looked like he was in charge of the operations here. The captain rose out of the bed and walked over to the group.

"Look I'm sorry about that whole losing the shipment thing," The captain sighed, "But the weapons should be salvageable."

The man in charge sighed, "Well, that's not good. Chris, Jedi."

"The name is Finn sir," The Jedi said.

"Whatever, look I need you guys to go and get some of those weapons. We can't have them falling into enemy hands."

"Yes sir," The trooper exclaimed.

"I'll go too," The captain said.

The man in charge shook his head, "No, you need to stay here and rest."

"A good captain completes the job no matter what," The captain snapped.

The man sighed, "Indeed he does, very well. You can go."

The freighter captain nodded and pulled out his pistol, "Alright boys, let's do this," The captain exclaimed before taking off.

Atheros jumped ran toward the Terentatek that had attack him and his sniper compatriot. He managed to strike the monster once with his training blade before quickly whipping it back and slashing the beasts head. The sniper, Saito, fired his rifle. The bullet hit the beast in the shoulder as it roared in pain and swung at Atheros. The Sith pureblood dodged the attack and shocked the monster with lighting. The Terentatek didn't even flinch.

"Got any other ideas?" Saito exclaimed and sent a strange probe at the beast. Atheros soon struck the probe and caused it to explode; several pieces of shrapnel dug themselves into the beasts hit as Atheros then stabbed the Terentatek in the eye. He kicked the beast's head into the ground before pulling his training saber out and doing a little flip.

"A show off huh?" Saito smiled and aimed his rifle at the top of the cave. He fired a bullet which bounced off the roof of the cave and slammed right into the beast's skull almost hitting the thing's brain.

Atheros smiled, "Let a real Sith finish this off!" He laughed as he ran forward. All of a sudden the beast's arm smacked him into the wall of the cave. Saito laughed and took out a grenade, "That's how a Sith does things?" He then threw the grenade which blew a hole in the Terentatek's stomach. The thing collapsed on the ground as Atheros went and took a lens from the beast's eye.

"I have no more use for you," Atheros said.

Saito smiled, "Of course you probably don't know about supply ship that was carrying lightsaber crystals that crashed not too far from here."

"What!" Atheros exclaimed.

"Yes, I saw a ship go down before I went into this cave," Saito said, "I think it was a Republic supply ship. I did see something that looked like a crystal fall out of it."

Atheros smiled; perhaps he would get some use out of the man. This was turning out to be a good day after all.

Finn, Chris, and the smuggler came towards the wreckage of a ship.

"My ship," The smuggler exclaimed, "That thing was on loan! I'm never going to be able to pay it back!"

"Never mind that," Chris said, "We need to get the supplies back to the Republic."

"You're right," The smuggler said.

"Stop right there Republic scum," A voice growled. The three turned around and looked at a squad of Imperials pointing rifles at them, "We will not allow you to take the advanced proto-types that were on this ship!"

"But it's my ship!" The smuggler roared, "How could you think that you own this?"

"You're in Imperial Territory, I suggest you leave," The Captain said.

Fearing unneeded violence, Finn moved his hand and said, "The proto-type is not here."

"The Proto-type is not here," The man said.

"We must look somewhere else," Finn continued.

"We must look somewhere else," The Captain said, "Alright men move out! The prototype probably landed somewhere else!" with that, the Imperials marched off.

The smuggler laughed, "Nice trick! Come on! Let's grab all that we can!"

All of a sudden, a sniper bullet whizzed past Finn's head.

"Going somewhere?" A voice cackled as a Pureblooded Sith jumped down, "Prepare to die Republic scum!"

Chris took out his rifle and got ready to fire at the Pureblooded Sith who was about to attack them. Just then, A fat man walked down and stepped in front of the Sith.

"Perhaps they can help us with something," He said.

"Help us!" The Sith snapped, "These Republic scum ought to be killed!"

"There is something more we need, there is an ancient temple to the east that I was sent to scout," The fat man said, "And there is a beast guarding it, the five of us could ban together and kill it."

"Teaming up with Imperial scum?" The Smuggler snapped, "No way!"

"Did I mention I could pay for your crashed ship?" The fat man said.

"Deal," The smuggler said.

Chris and Finn looked at each other and then at the smuggler. The two of them sighed and agreed to help.

"And in exchange you get to go free," The fat man said, "I think that sounds fair."

The Sith growled but eased up. The five set off for the ancient temple. Chris gripped the trigger of his gun. He was ready for anything, he always had to be. What kind of soldier would be easily caught off guard?

Atheros looked at Saito and snarled, "How dare you side with these Republic mongrels."

"The thing with Imperial intelligence is that you have to learn how to solve problems without too much killing," Saito said, "Of course a Sith wouldn't know that."

Atheros gnashed his teeth, "You are lucky I'm not going to rip that tongue of yours right out of your mouth."

"If you did, the Republic forces would surely kill you," Saito said, "And as I said before, the Emperor has no use for a dead Sith."

Atheros almost shot lightning at Saito, but resisted at the last second. The five came to the temple where a giant dog like beast was waiting for them.

"Lock and load boys!" Saito exclaimed and everyone got ready to attack, "Because this is going to be one hell of a show!"


End file.
